152nd Burgundy Auction smashes records

Burgundy’s famous annual charity wine auction at the Hospices de Beaune smashed its previous record with a total sale of 5.9 million euros.

The auction, now in its 152th year, saw the average price of a bottle rocket by more than 54 per cent compared to last year to reach around 380 euros. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the former French first lady, who was guest auctioneer at the event, joked: “At €200,000, I’ll deliver the wine. At €250,000 my husband [Nicolas Sarkozy] will deliver it with me.”

This year’s record was reached despite a 30 per cent drop in the number of bottles on offer after a year that saw yields in Burgundy plummet due to the poor weather.